Dutchman Hope Lelieveld spent 60 years developing methods to improve food safety

 (Food safety - expressive)

The World Food Prize goes to a scientist who spent 6 decades trying to prevent the transmission of diseases through food

A scientist who pioneered setting safety standards for modern food processing used around the world won the World Food Prize this year, the organization announced on Wednesday, in recognition of his work that contributed to avoiding millions of cases of food-borne diseases and reducing food waste.

Dutchman Hope Lelieveld received the award after spending six decades developing methods to improve food safety and advocating for trade regulations that allow safe food to move around the world more easily.

“I did what I thought was right,” Lelieveld said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I want everyone to have enough food, but... it has to be safe, too.”

Lelieveld began his career as a food researcher at Unilever at a time when, in his view, the mechanisms for manufacturing safe food products were “illogical.”

Food was often sterilized or chemically preserved after production, and equipment had to be stopped once or twice a day for cleaning, which was difficult and time-consuming.